Saturday, October 27, 2007

Thanks to all the comments that I have received to let me know that Billy is alive and doing well. As a matter of fact he and Desi have formed a new group with Dino's brother Ricci Martin called Ricci, Desi and Billy. It turns out that Billy kept busy as a member of the Beach Boys back up band for years. He also produced albums with Carl Wilson. How did he get such great work? Maybe being Carl Wilson's brother-in-law would have something to do with it. I am sure that he got the jobs due to being a fine musician. After all the Beach Boys don't hire you unless you are really good. You can go to Ricci, Desi and Billy.com to buy their CD's and find out more about this new group.Another commenter said that Billy will be doing a Forgotten Hits interview. You can e-mail them at The60sShop@aol.com to ask Kent about this or to subscribe to their letter.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Ok here is a commercial that wasn't nostalgic for me but I am sure that it will be for someone. Sadly I am old enough to remember the commercial I have just never seen it. Yet it does bring back memories from that era. I know Dino was the son of Dean Martin and Desi was of course the son of Lucy and Desi Arnez. Who was Billy? Was he related to anyone already famous? Also, we all know what happened to Dino and Desi but what ever happened to Billy?

Thursday, October 25, 2007

This was a British Import here in America. It aired on Saturday mornings and was only on TV for a year or two but I really liked it. This video is the opening and closing of the show. I liked how it starts with saying "Get on board with the Double Decker's." Then the end credits say "You've been on board with the Double Decker's." Anyway I wanted to share this with you and I hope you enjoy it and if you saw it before then happy memories.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

One of my favorite cartoons from 1969 was based on one of my favorite toys. The Hot Wheels car collection that every little boy had in the 1960's. Here is the introduction to the series. The rules of the FCC were tougher back then and a year or two later the cartoon was canceled even though it was a big hit. It was canceled because the FCC ruled that it was really a half an hour long commercial for the toy. In the 1980's that would start changing and toys like He-Man, Pac-Man, G.I. Joe, etc. would start getting their own TV shows again. These were of course half an hour ads for the toys but for some reason the FCC didn't mind anymore.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

I have always liked the character Jimmy Olsen. He was a favorite character of mine on the Adventures of Superman as played by Jack Larson. From all of Superman's supporting cast Jimmy was the closest to my age. So he was the eyes from which I viewed all of Superman's adventures. The episodes of the TV show and the issues of any of the comic books that centered around Jimmy were my favorites. So is it any wonder that his own comic book series was a favorite of mine growing up? There were no action figures for supporting characters of comic book series back then like there are now. You might get Superman and any of his enemies but I never saw any of Jimmy, Lois or Perry. So to compensate for that I would (gasp!) take a pair of scissors and cut out the figures of the characters from the comic books and play with them. I know I may have lost alot of valuable comic books this way but I still had fun.I suppose I liked Jimmy because I knew no one could ever be like Superman. I nor anyone I knew was ever going to be shot off to another planet and gain powers to fight crime there. However, Jimmy was a young man close to my age and he grew up to become a reporter who was always having an adventure. At that age that was what I wanted to be. Also, if there was someone who did become like Superman I could always be his friend just as Jimmy was Superman's pal. But I knew that would never happen.Now I told you all of that to tell you a little bit about my Granddad. He was my Dad's Father and the only Grandfather I ever knew. My Mom's Dad died when she was a little girl so I never knew him. Now I know he loved me but he rarely did anything with me. He was from an older generation that didn't seem to think you needed to say I love you or give you a hug. You just had to instinctively know that they loved you. Also, I was the 4th of six grandchildren that he had so he may have been grandfathered out by the time I came along. He and my Grandma would always let me read their books or play their records and watch TV but since my Dad and my Uncle George grew up their house was mostly made for adults. There was very little for a boy to play with. I was never one for sports but my Dad's old baseball bat was always hanging on a string out in the back part of the house. So I would take it and pretend I was a famous ball player and always hitting home runs.I was always in search of a fun grandfather figure like I saw kids had on TV or in the comic books. I do have some good memories when his love for me came through. Like hunting easter eggs with my cousins in the yard or when grandma and grandad would come over for my birthday. I remember one day while we were visiting my grandparents when I was tired of pretending to play baseball and asked Dad if he and Grandad would play with me. Dad jumped at the chance and Grandad came along too. They would pitch the ball to me and I would try to hit it back to them. A nice memory of three generations of men playing ball together. Maybe it wasn't as fun for them as I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn at that time. I remember once at a local amusement park he would ride some of the rides with me and my Dad. So while I had some good times with him and some good memories I never felt that Grandad understood me.Then one day I over heard him and my Dad talking and he told my Dad that I always reminded him of Jimmy Olsen. That was the best thing he ever said about me. I suddenly realized that my Grandfather. My Pop (as he liked to be called) really did understand me. He has been gone for over 20 years I still am touched by those kind words. My Grandfather and Jimmy Olsen are forever intertwined together to me. It makes me smile to know that deep in his heart he loved me very much.Ironically I chose to go into broadcasting after I got out of school. For a short time I worked in the news department for WHKK, a local radio station in my town that is now out of business, and I interned at WCPO in Cincinnati as a gofer in their news department. I didn't like the hours so I got out of the business but for a short while I really was like Jimmy Olsen.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Welcome to the party! Today is the second anniversary of my blog. These two years have been wonderful I have even some spin off sites like my comic blog Mail It To Team Up and my Christian blog For God So Loved. This time last year I thought I would have to move my blog. Thankfully that never happened. I hope you have enjoyed my last series. The best of On My Mind from the past 2 years.Now enjoy the party. Rob of Aquaman Shrine is taking the guest coats and putting them in the bedroom while discussing art with Paul of If They Move Blog'em. Steve is in the dining room handling the punch bowel and talking about weird comic book panels. In the family room Ron Dante is singing old Archie's tunes. My friend Paul from Comic Book World is over in the corner talking about silver age comic books with Luke from El Jacone's Comic Book Bunker. My old friend Marlin is in the Den talking about religion and poetry. Mary Spooner is in the living room showing old movies of George Reeves and other old time actors. You may even run into Fred Hembeck, Mark Evanier, Marv Wolfman, Herb Trimpe. or ,Tony Isabella. You might even see Kent from Forgotten Hits The60sShop@aol.com or the good folks from This Is Pop Culture. Who knows maybe even Peter Noone will show up. You may even see someone from the Monkees Fan Club or Micky,Mike,Peter orDavy may show up. There is my wife bringing in the cake now. Everyone to the dining room for refreshments and thanks for reading this on line magazine of my thoughts, hobbies and stories and thanks to all the new friends that I have made from this site and my other sites.I tired to find a photo that showed a party going on but I didn't have any. So I used the Archie comic book cover that you see above.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

In June of this year I wrote this posting on for the anniversary of the Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album. It was picked up by the music newsletter The60sShop@aol.com by Kent Kotal for his Sgt. Peppers e-mail.

This weekend is the 40th anniversary of the release of the Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album by the Beatles. At the time it was revolutionary in its musical scope. Everything before it seems tinny and rushed. The production of the music seems fuller and each note carefully thought out. However, as time went on we seem to have lost sight of how much influence it had at that time. It overshadowed albums that came before it and ones that had been recently released like the Monkees Headquarters. I point out the Monkees album as it was the first that was completely under the group’s control. It was to shatter the myth that they couldn’t play their own music. As well produced as the album was a few weeks later Sgt. Peppers was released and no one cared about the musical talents of the Monkees. The Beach Boys were working on the one album, Smile, which could have rivaled Sgt. Peppers in influence if it had been completed back then. Instead they released what they had as Smiley Smile. Years later in the 21st Century Brian Wilson would complete Smile on his own. The Bee Gees were even working on a concept album and Sgt. Peppers put a stop to that album in pre-production.Since then every group has tried to emulate the production style Sgt. Peppers. To this day when a group completes a huge undertaking they announce it as the best album since Sgt. Peppers. Its influence is felt to this day as kids still buy it and enjoy the music of all the Beatles albums. No matter what your favorite Beatles album is you have to say that they set the bar high with Sgt. Peppers.These days many performers who set the bar high for their art are now considered just ordinary performers. That has never happened to the Beatles and I hope this posting helps to keep it from happening to their Sgt. Peppers album. Music lovers keep the album in high demand and it keeps getting special releases. Perhaps one day a band will release an album/cd that will overshadow Sgt. Peppers. However, I don’t think that will happen for a long, long time.